I don't need friends, I can build my own
| Start time | 11:00 |
|---|---|
| End time | 11:25 |
| Countdown link | Open timer |
It’s a Friday night and you’re really hitting it off with the customer service assistant that has popped up in the right hand corner chat window of your web browser. But are they real, or a chatbot? How do you tell?
Chatbots have become commonplace in our lives. These days, you may find they are largely used as a form of customer service. But how does it make us feel when we know we’re talking to a program? A poor interaction can sour the user’s experience and put them off using a product.
There is an art to making programmed responses feel natural. It’s not just about replying to our questions with the correct answer. Chatbots need to be programmed with the same abilities humans have to communicate. They need to be able to listen, understand and remember. This gives them the context of the conversation. So where do you start?
In this talk i’ll cover some of the core concepts behind how web chatbots work, strategies used to train them to feel more human, and some Python tools that you can use to start building your own.
Sarah Levins is a Data and AI consultant at Empired, and an alumni of the She Codes Plus program. She brings over 6 years experience as a Travel Agent with her into her first tech role, and loves creating personalised solutions to interesting problems.
Python was one of the first programming languages she learned, and loves how accessible it makes coding. She is an active mentor for beginners, and volunteers at workshop events.
In her spare time, Sarah runs long distances while listening to showtunes, or watches Thor movies with her cat.